Chicken Liver Sauce With Gnocchi

Why I Love This Recipe

Elizabeth David was a prolific and very famous food writer here in the UK.

She wrote about food in the 1950s, travelling Europe and bringing back her culinary discoveries to a Britain that was still food-rationed following WW2.

She did more for revolutionising British food than any other cookery writer, and is considered our first 'celebrity' food writer.

I know British food has a bad reputation (which is sometimes deserved, sometimes not so deserved) but Elizabeth David literally introduced the UK to foods like olive oil and spaghetti. It would be much worse without her!

She had a very authoritative tone in her books and was very much of the attitude that 'she knew best'. As a result her books are more like a conversation than a selection of recipes, as if she were giving you a class in how to do it her way.

This is one of my faves from her book 'Italian Food'.

Ingredients You'll Need

Half a pound of Chicken Livers, sliced into thin strips
A few mushrooms, chopped roughly
An Onion, chopped as finely as you wish
A garlic clove or two, chopped or crushed
Marsala or a white wine
Some chicken or meat stock
Salt and Pepper

Directions

Sweat your onion and garlic for a while, until it softens.

Pop in your livers and toss around for a little while. Chicken livers don't need to be cooked for a long time or they can become tough.

Pop in your mushrooms and a good glug of the wine. Cook for another few minutes, until the alcohol in the wine has evaporated.

Add a cupfull or so of the stock. Not much - you're not bathing the livers, just 'moistening' them. Turn down the heat a little. Reduce for a few minutes until the dish is unctuous and thick, or until your willpower gives out - whichever comes first.